TURIN, Italy — It's becoming an Olympic tradition: An American woman wins figure skating gold and the Russians claim all the other titles.

Sasha Cohen took an important step toward keeping the tradition alive Tuesday, winning the short program with a brilliant performance. She capped off the spectacular skate by snapping her fingers and double-pumping her fists as if to say, "Top that."

Cohen will need to be just as dynamic and sassy in the free skate Thursday. That is because world champion Irina Slutskaya is as close as a skate blade's edge to Cohen in the standings — and the Russian has a better track record.

"It's going to be like starting over. Like the short didn't really count. Back to square one," Cohen said after beating Slutskaya by .03 points — a mere slip or bobble in the four-minute program they will perform Thursday. "Anybody in the top three can win."

The top three also includes Japan's Shizuka Arakawa, the 2004 world champion. Cohen has a pair of world silvers and won her first national title this year, but her resume isn't quite as complete as her two closest challengers.

Indeed, both Cohen and Slutskaya were in range to win gold four years ago at Salt Lake City. But neither skated particularly well in the free program and Sarah Hughes burst through the opening, giving the United States its third Olympic champion in four games — and seven overall.

"Salt Lake was very different for me," Cohen said. "I was a different person, a different athlete. I've learned and matured so much and learned how to handle the nerves a bit better since then. I've just evolved."

So much that skating last Tuesday didn't bother her a bit.

With U.S. flags waving and chants of "USA! USA!" rocking the arena, Cohen dazzled the judges with a sensational short program. Cohen's spectacular spirals and crisp footwork had the crowd clapping to the beat of "Dark Eyes," a Russian folk tune.

John Nicks, her on-again, off-again coach, credited Cohen's emergence into adulthood — Cohen, an ice pack wrapped around her right leg, claimed she's the "grandma" of the U.S. team at the ripe old age of 21.

"She's been very much more mature and trained very hard," he said. "Tonight was a good start. It was a very good start. But it was only a start."

Both Slutskaya, seeking to finish off an unprecedented sweep of the gold by one country, and the elegant Arakawa got out of the blocks superbly, too.

Slutskaya drew the anchor spot in the free skate; Cohen goes second in the six-woman final group and Arakawa will be right after Cohen.

Slutskaya's performance to Liszt's peppy "Totentanz" was so perfectly in unison with the music that her spins matched the crescendos. Her tempo could have overhauled some speedskaters competing down the block.

Her countrymen in the crowd waved flags, shouted "ROS-SI-YA! ROS-SI-YA!" and erupted in a loud ovation for her score of 66.70. Slutskaya, sitting with her fingers crossed, then walked off to wait and see if her marks held up.

They did until the very end, when Cohen was just as fast and a bit more magical.

"I skated great and this is important for me," Slutskaya said. "I had the best skating today. I'll prepare the same way I'll always prepare for the long program. Nothing changes, nothing new."

Nope, nothing new. An American is in position to take the gold — the only Olympic figure skating medal no Russian woman has ever won — and foil Russia's title sweep in Turin.

Russians have already won golds in the men's, dance and pairs figure skating events in Turin. They pulled off the same feat in 1992, 1998 and 2002 only to watch American women win gold. In 1992 it was Kristi Yamaguchi; in 1998 it was Tara Lipinski; Sarah Hughes did it in 2002.

Of course, Arakawa could also spoil Russia's chances for a sweep.

Arakawa's jumps were smooth, and her spins were high-level and high-quality. But it was her spirals that were show-stoppers. In one, she pulled her leg up to the side in the splits position. Then she let go and the leg stayed completely still, a testament to her superior strength and muscle control.

"I was really surprised," Arakawa said of her score. "That's the best I've done under these kind of conditions, although I've done better in practice.

"I think I can do much better than this, but I don't want to make my expectations too high."

Maybe she should. She trails Cohen by only .71 points.

Japan's Fumie Suguri was fourth, and American Kimmie Meissner fifth.

Emily Hughes, 17, added to the U.S. team nine days ago when Michelle Kwan withdrew with a groin injury, wasn't intimidated in her first major international event and finished seventh. Her sister, Sarah Hughes, sat in the upper deck holding a banner saying "HUGHES GOTTA BELIEVE".

"She said to have fun and enjoy it," Hughes said of big sister. "She just said to have fun with everything and I feel like I went out and had fun. It's great she's been here with my whole family and been so supportive.

"Now that I'm on the ice and she's up in the stands, I know how she feels. Maybe she knows how I feel, too."

The 16-year-old Meissner, skating second, showed no stage fright. She hit all her elements, and although her footwork was somewhat faulty, it was a strong start.

"I was a little excited and I think I got trippy," said Meissner, who walked to the rink pulling a rolling suitcase with her skates inside. "I wanted to do a clean short. I feel like I get an `A' on that."